Detectives, however, were puzzled by some ``inconsistencies`` in the death of Joseph Grieco, a hotel maintenance worker who family members said climbed into bed one night, put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

On Monday, their suspicions were confirmed.

Mary Grieco confessed to killing her husband 2 1/2 weeks ago in a conspiracy that involved her daughter, Ann, 15, and the girl`s boyfriend, a temporary boarder in the family`s home in the 1100 block of Northwest Eighth Court, police said.

In a case they called ``bizarre,`` police said the threesome plotted to kill Joseph Grieco, 52, because he controlled their lives and bullied them. Detectives described Joseph Grieco as a man who ``spent most of his time in the house, watching TV.``

``Dad made all of the decisions and didn`t talk to the family,`` said Detective Robert Bayerl, the lead investigator in the case. ``They were basically tired of being second-class citizens.``

An informant`s tip prompted police to summon the mother, daughter and Mel Steele, Ann Grieco`s boyfriend, to the police station on Monday. There, all three admitted to concocting the murder plot, police said.

Mary Grieco, 48, said she fired the gun and killed her husband of 27 years to put a halt to years of mental abuse she said he inflicted on her, Bayerl said.

She had broached the subject of filing for divorce, but her husband said he would not allow her to do it, Bayerl said.

After her husband had dozed off early on the morning of Aug. 8, Mary Grieco climbed into bed with him. Kneeling over his body, she put a .32-caliber handgun to his head and fired once into his left temple, Bayerl said.

Then she made it look like a suicide, Bayerl said.

Initially, the plot called for Steele, a Navy enlistee with aspirations of becoming a jet mechanic, to kill Joseph Grieco, but the teen-ager could not bring himself to do it, police said. So the mother took over, they said.

A break in the case came when an informant called police to say he heard Steele brag about being Joseph Grieco`s murderer.

``He (bragged) to make himself look big in the eyes of his friends,`` Bayerl said.

Steele worked as a waiter with his girlfriend`s parents at the Seagate Hotel and Beach Club in Delray Beach, a job the Griecos helped him get, police said. Joseph Grieco worked in maintenance, and his wife, in housekeeping, police said.

Mary Grieco is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder, police said. Her daughter, a ninth-grader, and Steele are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, they said.

Palm Beach County Medical Examiner James Benz said he ruled the death a suicide based on crime-scene information that police provided.

``There were a few things about it you just kind of wondered about, (but) nothing you could put your finger on,`` he said.

Detective Bayerl and Detective Sgt. Sam Carrion said they kept the case file open because a few aspects of Joseph Grieco`s death did not fit the pattern of typical suicides.

For one thing, the victim had an aversion to guns and would not let anyone bring one in the house, Bayerl said. He had never been seen with a gun, he said.

Other disturbing elements: Before he died, Joseph Grieco spent six hours in bed. Suicidal people usually do not belabor the act once they have decided to kill themselves, Bayerl said.

Also, suicide is often a ``a matter of privacy,`` he said. So it seemed strange, he said, that Joseph Grieco would take his own life in his bedroom with everyone home.

After the slaying, mother and daughter traveled to New England, where the family had once lived, to attend memorial services for Joseph Grieco, Bayerl said. Then they returned home.